Frequently Asked Questions on Computer Science
Computer science is going to look primarily at the fundamentals of computing, which remain fairly constant across different computing hardware and operating systems. Any computer manufactured in the past few years should be adequate for studying computer science as long as it is mechanically in good repair. Courses beyond CS1 may require that students have a laptop they can bring to class. We don't want anyone to not study CS because they do not have a computer so please connect with our Technical Director to get a loaner laptop.
A laptop is also convenient for taking to class and group work; we would suggest a laptop computer over a desktop computer for that reason. Virtual machines (VMs) can be useful in some classes; we would recommend a laptop (not a Chromebook) with an Intel or AMD processor to support running a VM (if you have a laptop that does not support virtualization that would be ok and we would make reasonable accommodations).
More information can be found in the Computer Science Intro Courses PDF.
Colorado College's Registrar handles the approval of transfer credit. Before taking classes off campus, make sure they will be transferred correctly through the Registrar. If you want a transferred class to count specifically toward the CS major or minor or as a pre-requisite for another CS course, then the course needs to be approved by the CS faculty. This requires providing them with a syllabus (a course catalog description is insufficient). This should be done before taking the course since there is no guarantee the substitution will be accepted.
If you know you want to major you should consider officially changing advisors to one of the CS professors. You do not need to wait to declare the major to do this.
Computational Thinking is usually taught in Python and CS1/CS2/Design are usually taught in Java and Computer Organization introduces the basics of C. Electives may use different languages. Once someone has become proficient in the basic CS concepts they should be able to pick up new languages relatively easily.
The CS department has a mailing list maintained by the paraprofs. There is also a Facebook page.
The registrar's website has a list of points required in the past (find it under Preregistration) but demand for CS keeps increasing every year so keep that in mind when bidding. Most electives are not offered every year and may be taught by visiting experts in the area so you might only have one chance.
Research opportunities are offered to students who have shown that they are motivated and hardworking (usually by doing well in their CS classes or having done interesting side projects) and who are interested in the faculty mentor's research area. Many universities run "REU" programs over the summer, which are a great way for students from small colleges like CC to get research experience.
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